the options game
by TheBlackHand724
Summary: My first Castle Fic, Caskett. Take place at the end of Ep. 2.18. Castle know Beckett has no home so he offers her his guest room, Castle style. Just a fun little one shot beginning to my story line. Now Beta'ed. T for safty. please R&R TBH


Disclaimer: I own nothing. All ABC's.

AN: I'm a fan of Castle, but I never felt the need to write for the fandom until two weeks ago. I sat down to watch episode 2.19 and I thought that the show left a big plot hole. Where is Beckett living now? I mean I know that the show doesn't revolve around where Beckett lives but come on her home was destroyed. I also think that they missed a good opportunity to pair up Castle and Beckett. Call me a hopeless romantic but I see the two of them getting together faster then other show couples. They fight like an old married couple any ways. So this is my spin on Castle getting Beckett to live with him.

AN:I know that Beckett's clothes where okay, but not having clothes plays in to my sequel to this story that will go up some time soon.

The game of options

It was late Wednesday night of the day they had caught the Nikki Heat killer. Detective Beckett sat at her desk in the almost deserted 12th precinct. She told everyone that walked by her desk that she was finishing up some paperwork, but the truth was she was stalling. Her apartment, the only place she had called home since she started on the force ten years ago, was gone. She spent the last night in a hospital bed, but she had no where to go tonight. It seemed like everyone was so excited that they caught the killer that everyone, including her, all forgot that she had nothing now. She had no home, she had almost no clothes, and the worst part of all she lost her dad's watch. She looked down at her empty wrist, and felt naked. She sighed and went back to staring at her computer screen life was not good for Kate Beckett.

Minutes later the quite of the bullpen was interrupted by Castle stepping off the elevator. He was carrying a big shopping bag and humming a happy tune. He approached her desk and sat in his chair.

"Why are you so damn happy Castle?"

"Because I have an ultimatum for you and the outcome of the choices you make tonight will effect the future for both our lives."

"What are you talking about Castle?"

"Well as far as I'm concerned me writing Nikki Heat has destroyed your life, so the ultimatum is that I either stop following you, and cancel the contract for the next three books," Kate's eyes got big, and her heart started to race, "Or I stay and you play the Options Game!"

"The options game? And you can't do that to me, it's blackmail!"

"Don't care! The choice is yours Detective."

It was times like these that she wished she could pistol whip that cocky smirk off his face. "So my options are, you stop following me, or I play your stupid game?"

Castle nodded and he had a devious look in his eyes.

"Fine I'll play the game, how do you play, and what's the rules?"

"I made this game when Alexis was eight. I give you two options and you have to take one of them. There is no backing out or taking an option C. you have to take one of the two options!" His smirk had reached epic proportions, and if she was paying attention she would have known that she was not going to like this.

"Fine Monty Hall hit me with the first option." she was so tired that she just wanted to get this over with.

"Aright the first option is do you want to wear your fathers old watch," he said in a big game show host voice as he pulled out a watch box and flipped it open. Sitting on a small black pillow was her dad's watch. It looked clean and new. It shined when the light hit it.

"Were did you find my dad's watch! I thought it was destroyed in the explosion."

"One of the uni's found it and I had my jeweler fix it up and clean it. Now stop distracting me. Were was I? Right, you can wear your dad's watch or you can keep it safe and wear this brand new titanium Rolex!" he pulled out another watch box and flipped it open to show her a shiny black watch that looked expensive but not to feminine. It was the type of watch that looked like it could take a beating.

"So I get my dads watch back no matter what right?"

"Yeah, I must admit that the options get harder as the rounds progress. So what will it be your dad's watch or the new Rolex?" Castle slipping back into the announcer's voice with ease.

"I guess I'll take the new watch?" sounding unsure of her choice. "Final answer?"

"Yes." playing along with him she acts like a game show contestant.

"Good choice here is your prize!" castle closes the two boxes and passes them to her. "Now for round two, I must warn you that the stakes get higher with each round. Now for this round we are playing for your wardrobe! Your options for this round are take this seven thousand dollar gift card to Lyn & Steve's and along with Alexis and my mother go shopping this weekend," Castle pulls out a black credit card. "Or I take this card back to the store and "I" get to pick your wardrobe!"

"Castle! How can I let You spend that much money? And why seven thousand?"

"I called Lanie and she pointed me in the direction of the place you like to shop at. She said that you get like 90% of your clothes there so I stopped by there and asked Lyn about you and asked how much it would cost to reacquire your wardrobe and she said like five and a half so I said make it seven and she wanted me to tell you they are having a sale on those tops with the weird necks this weekend. So what will it be are you going to shop for your self or am I going to get to do it for you. I saw some mini skirts and clear heels in the back that would look good on you." she reaches over to smack him, he dodges and leans back in his seat. "I'm just saying the hooker look is hot."

"I'll go myself, but I think it's not right that you are paying, it's not like I don't have money of my own you know!" she pouts and looks away from him.

"I know you do, but as I said before I'm making money off of you through the Nikki Heat books and in the process I put your life in danger. So I'm paying and that's final. Like I said the hooker look is hot I could always go shopping my self." Castle wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. This time she does hit him in the arm. He acts like he is mortally wounded. "You wound me woman!"

"Get over it."

"So what's your final decision, are you going shopping OR am I?" he goes back to the game show personality.

"I'm going shopping."

"is that your final answer?"

"Yes!"

"Okay! Here is your gift card. Now like I said the options are going to get harder as we progress and you have to choose."

"I get that Castle now lets hear the next one." she would never admit it to anyone but she was having fun, and it stopped her from thinking about the loss of her home.

Castle pulled out two pieces of paper and held them up, but he was far enough away from her so that she couldn't make out the writing but she knew that they had NYPD letter heads.

"Now this next option you are not going to like, but this one did not come from me. It came from Captain Montgomery, but I asked if I could give you the ultimatum instead of him. It was what prompted me to dust off the old Options Game." Castle was rambling and it scared Kate.

"Get to the point Castle!" she instantly felt bad about yelling at him. He looked down and he had a sad look on his face. He obviously did this whole game to break what ever this decision was to her softly. "I'm sorry but your scaring me, I'm not getting fired right?"

"No not fired but you have two options the document in my right hand is the form that says that you agree to take two weeks of the three months of paid vacation you have next week." he paused and could not meet her eyes he held up the paper in his left hand. "And this form in my left hand is the paper work stating that you are on two weeks unpaid medical leave for mental instability. I'm sorry Kate but Montgomery said that you are not going to be here next week. He's worried about you."

She sat there too stunned to even speak. She was being kicked out of work for two weeks and the only choice she had was if she wanted to look crazy on her file. How could they do this to her? She looked over at Castle and for the first time since she had to shoot Coonan she saw he had real empathy for her. It was like he knew that she would take this as an insult to her integrity. For the first time Kate saw just how well Rick Castle knew her.

"Castle… Rick, I want to thank you for giving me this news instead of the Captain. So my options are I either take a two week paid vacation, or I'm put on medical leave?"

"Yep, that's the gist of it. So which one will it be?"

"I guess there's only one real option here, I will take the vacation. But who's going to run the homicide team?"

"Well I'm actually taking two weeks off too so there will be two open spots on the team, but they found two very good replacements for us. Agent Shaw has to take the same vacation you do from the FBI for being kidnapped, so she has agreed to fill in my spot since she will technically be a civilian. And your replacement is the only Detective to have a higher arrest record that you do Roy Montgomery."

"The Captain? He's filling in for me?"

"Yep, it was either work two weeks back on the streets or take his bi-yearly physical fitness test. He figured that this way if the situation called for running he could have Ryan or Esposito do it and no one will be the wiser."

"Smart move on his part, he is getting a little soft sitting behind that desk of his."

"So you are taking the paid vacation." Castle saw that the situation had calmed down and he went back to his announcer voice to continue the game.

"Yes" Kate too went back to the game, she felt a lot better about the Vacation after hearing who was taking her place on the team.

"Good, this form I will keep to give to him in the morning and you can tear up the medical leave form." Castle handed her the piece of paper and she tour it in half and tossed it in to the trash can by her desk.

"So are you ready for the next round of the game?" he was excited again.

"Yeah, I guess so." she was feeling less excited after spotting that look in his eyes.

"Okay on to the next round, remember you have to choose one of the Options."

"I think by now I get that Castle."

"Okay," Castle pulled out two nick knacks from the bag and put them on her desk. One was of a boat and the other was a miniature of the Eiffel tower. "Now since you have two weeks off, and Alexis has two weeks off of School and I'm taking two weeks off as well. You get to pick which trip we: you, me, and Alexis take. Are we going on a two week cruse of the Bahamas or are we doing a two week tour of Europe?"

"Castle! I can't go on your vacation. I can't intrude into you and Alexis' time together. I can't."

"That's not and option, and that's one strike."

"What! One strike, what do you mean one strike?" Kate was mad now.

"You get three strikes and then the game is over, and I make all of the remaining choices and you have to agree to them. that's how the game works." Rick could see that she was on the verge of hitting him again.

"So if I don't pick one of the options, or refuse to pick two more times you get to pick?"

"Yep!"

"well that's not fair. What if I don't want to go on the trip?"

"You mean if you don't want to pick one of the trips?"

"Yeah. What if I don't want to leave the city?"

"that's not an option."

"But what if I refuse to go, it's not like you can make me!" she had a look of triumph on her face.

"If you refuse to choose it ends the game and the Captain fills out a new medical leave form co-signed by Lanie giving me power of attorney over you for the next two weeks. I'm sorry Kate but you need to get away from this city for a while. Everyone agrees. That last part was not my idea, it was Lanie's but I will go along with it if I have to. You work eighteen hour days, six days a week and it's wearing you down. You might not be able to see it but we do. We don't want you to hurt yourself."

"So now everyone is an expert on my life?" she was beyond furious right now.

"Kate your killing yourself. Some days the only thing you put in your body is coffee, and stale donuts. It's not healthy. I lo… like you Kate, and I don't want to lose you." she looked into his eyes and saw that he was serious. In fact this was the most serious she had seen him since he came to tell her about her mom's case in the hospital. And was he about to say LOVE? She thought so, but wasn't sure. She relented, she knew she could not win against him, not when she knew deep down that he was right. She could feel it in her bones the past couple months, she was slower then she used to be and when she got up in the morning she felt every bone in her back creak.

"Fine, but can I at least pay for some of it?"

"No you can't and if you push that subject again you get another strike."

"Fine no paying. Can I at least ask why those two trips?" she knew that she was going to go on one of the two but she was having trouble making a choice.

"Sure you can." She gave him a threatening look and he answered quickly. "Alexis and I talked about what we wanted to do for her brake, she requested the Euro trip and I voted for the cruse. Mother voted for the cruse too but ended up bailing on us in favor of shooting a indy film in Chicago. So you are the deciding vote now."

"Well, um, I guess. Well the cruse sounds good," She could see him getting excited about the cruse. "But I always wanted to see Paris. So Euro trip it is!"

"Are you sure?" he sounded disappointed then he got an idea. The look he got was so comical that she laughed. You could just see the light bulb go off over his head. "There's a five star spa on the cruse ship." he said in what he thought was an enticing voice.

"Yes I want the Euro trip. I'm sure that Alexis and I can find a Spa in Paris."

"Fine, Euro trip it is. Alexis will be thrilled." he passed her the miniature Eiffel tower and dropped the boat back in the bag." so are you ready for the last round?" his spirits picked up again.

"Yeah, I guess."

Rick pulled out a small black box and a piece of paper and put them on her desk. "We come down to the final round. The Big Option! As of last night you are homeless. It is absolutely terrible. But I hope to fix that with this round. Option A is this paper. It is the signature page of the one year lease agreement to apartment 4C in my building. It's a nice two bedroom two bath loft next door to my place. This deal also comes with the card to my interior decorator Sean."

"Castle I can't afford a place like that!" she was shaking her head violently.

"I know that, that's why I'm covering the cost." he replies nonchalantly

"What! No I will not be some kept woman. You are not paying for my apartment."

"Strike 2! First of all its one of the smallest units in the building and I talked to the land lord and he is willing to give you a huge discount for being a cop. So the price of the unit is a fraction of what I pay for my place."

"I don't care if it's a tenth of what you pay it's still too much!"

"I got paid fifteen million dollars for the last Storm book and three for Heat Wave. Trust me Detective I can afford it a thousand times over."

"I still don't like it what's option B."

"Option B." he flipped up the lid of the box to reveal a brass house key on a gold key ring that said 4A on it, "is you come live with us in the fifth bedroom of my loft. It's a spacious twenty foot square bedroom with a king sized bed and Egyptian cotton sheets and a view of the park. It also has an attached bathroom with a jucuzzy tub. And you also get to be a part of the Castle family festivities. Like movie night and pizza night."

"Can I make a suggestion?" she asked tentatively.

"Your close to that last strike but go ahead." he said playfully.

"What if I take the guest room but I look for my own place?" she asked hopefuly.

He sat in his chair looking like he was pondering that option. "So what your asking is if you can take option B temporarily while you look for an apartment?" he clarified.

"Yeah, I'll take the guest room but only for a little while till I find a place of my own."

"Do I get to pay for it?"

"No, I'll find a place of my own I'm paying for it."

"Did you just say NO?" he asked triumphantly.

"No! I mean I didn't mean to!" she had a panicked look in her eyes

"You know that saying NO is grounds for a strike right?" he had an evil smirk

"Yes, but please Castle I don't want you to make this desition." she pleaded with him.

Rick saw he was pushing things too far with the game so he gave in. "Fine no strike and I'll allow the modified option B. so what do you pick A OR B?"

"I take B"

"Are you sure?" he askes playfuly.

"Yes."

"Final answer?"

"Yes!"

Rick reached into his shopping bag and pulled out a flash light and flicked it on. He started to make a wowowowow sound and wave the light around. "You just unlocked the lightning round!" he pulled out three toy cars, a silver Audi R8, a red Ferrari 430, and a yellow Lamborgini murceolago, and set them on her desk. Her eyes got big and she felt dizzy. He flicked off the light, and said choose.

"Um… I can't… well… the red one looks cute… I can't, I have a car… is this a joke!" she finely yelled out.

"Yes and no. you don't have to pick one now but your birthdays coming up next month and I think we should make a stop at Modena Italy on our trip." He said in a serious tone of voice. Kates eyes crossed and she swayed in her seat untill Rick stood up and steadied her. "Come on lets get you home, it's late and Alexis and mother are cooking."

Kate stood up and wrapped Rick in a hug, before he came in with his shopping bag of prizes she had been worried about where she was going to sleep tonight and now she had her Dad's watch back and a new Rolex. She had a shopping spree to plan for this weekend. She was looking forward to a two week Euro trip and she was going to be spending the night sleeping on fine sheets after a long soake in a Jacuzzi. On top of all that she was hugging Richard Castle. Yes life was good for Kate Beckett and it only took losing almost everything she ownd to get here.


End file.
